Woe
by Gaia Faye
Summary: How Paresu and Goten first met, and foreshadowing of how he can bring sunshine back into her life.


Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball GT or its characters.

Author's notes: If you decided to skip over the summary, I'll repeat. This is a story about Paresu, Goten's girlfriend in GT. So, it is recommended that G/B and G/M fans turn back now if they don't like the idea of Goten-kun being with anyone else. You should also go if you hate Paresu's guts.

I wrote this story for my friend Kimmies, cause she has a Paresu page and asked me to write a fic for her. She and I happen to think that Paresu is a very decent human being, and despite her oblivious nature, we think she may be a goth too. What's goth? Well, a goth is generally a person who is very morbid. You know, likes death, black, night... um.. other things of the like. I'm not very good at explaining this, am I? ^_^;; Anyways, just because Paresu is always so happy doesn't mean she can't be a goth, 'cause, there are plenty of gothy people who are constantly obliviously happy. *coughKIMMIEScough*

And so, if you don't like Paresu, fine. I'll respect your opinion if you respect mine. I welcome constructive criticism, but if you flame me... well, screw you then. ^_^ On with the story.

Woe

__

~Happy little morbid girl

Smiling on the outside

Vacant on the inside

Life of the party

Void of the cheer

No one likes sadness

So she gives them what they want

Keeps the depression inside

False glee on the outside

Just waiting to be loved

Happy little morbid girl~

The rain pitter-pattered on the roof of the car as it was driven along the winding back roads of the countryside, the blacktop slick with the recent coming of rain. The faded, olive green station wagon was the only vehicle in sight on this drizzly night, but the couple seated inside remained wary of the precipitation.

"Careful, dear," cautioned the woman in the passenger seat, pushing a mahogany strand of hair back behind her ear, ignoring it when it swung back into place. "The roads are most dangerous during the first few minutes of rainfall, you know."

The dark-haired man driving chuckled, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "I know. You tell me every time it rains. Don't be so nervous, Lara." His cheerful smile suddenly morphed into a mischievous smirk. "Have some fun every now and then!" he yelled out, putting more pressure on the accelerator.

Lara shrieked as the car sped up, going twice as fast as before. "This is not funny, Karuko! Slow down!!!" she demanded. She squeezed her eyes shut, gripping the dashboard tightly. "Pleeeeeeaaaaaaaase!!!!"

Karuko laughed, decreasing the pressure on the gas pedal. "Well, since you asked nicely..."

His wife responded by thwapping him on the arm. "Honestly, what would Paresu think?"

"Hell, she'd be urging me to go faster!"

"Ugh. You two, I swear... She had to wind up with your personality."

"She had to get your looks too... Ain't that a shame..."

Lara whacked her spouse on the arm again. "Oh yeah? Then how did she get to be a model then, huh? Heh. I was thinking about doing some modeling in my day..."

"What? For maternity wear? Ow! Hey, that's spousal abuse!"

Lara rolled her eyes, then a cheerful smile crept upon her lips. "I can't wait 'til Paresu comes back home for a visit!" she exclaimed. "It's been months since we've last seen her."

"I hope that big city livin' hasn't spoiled her for the simple country life," Karuko responded.

"Of course not! She's always been a country girl at heart. I can't wait to hear of the city life, though."

"Well, don't you get a taste for it," Karuko warned. "We're as money-troubled as it is..."

"Tell me about it," Lara replied, drawing her white shawl tighter around her shoulders. "We don't even have enough money to fix the car heater..." She was thoughtful for a moment, then continued. "Maybe was could ask Par-"

"No," her husband interrupted. 

"But she's offered to help us out before!" Lara argued.

"No," he repeated. "I don't want my little girl to have her parents bugging her for money. She's earned it, and I want her to keep it."

"Just enough for the car heater?"

"No."

As the couple continued to argue, another set of headlights appeared on the road before them; those of a tractor-trailer. The trucker had just left a truck stop where he had drunk a several beers in the parking lot with fellow drivers. Convinced he was not too drunk to steer his massive vehicle well, he had wrongly decided to keep driving, the other truckers paying no mind, stinking of alcohol themselves.

The truck was about a hundred feet ahead of the station wagon when Lara first noticed it- and the way it seemed to be weaving into their lane.

"Karuko!" she called out, pointing to the tractor-trailer.

Karuko took his attention off of arguing with his wife and back on the road, only to be met with the sight of bright headlights glaring in his eyes. 

The last sounds he heard were his wife's terrified scream and the crashing of glass and crunching of metal.

Paresu jerked from sleep with a loud gasp, the fellow airplane passenger beside her letting out a yelp with her sudden awakening. It took the pale, dark-haired girl few moments to recognize her surroundings before she calmed down, closing her eyes and letting her head fall back to the cushioned seat.

"A-are you okay?" asked the man beside her.

She opened her eyes again to meet his gaze. "I'm fine. I... just had a dream..."

He smiled. "Flying gets to you, huh?"

"Yeah," she lied, her gaze wandering to the bordered view of the sky through her tiny window.

Seeing that she was obviously not interested in conversation, he turned back to his laptop, clicking away on some investing site.

Lost in thought, Paresu watched the fluffy white clouds drift by as the airplane flew through and by them. She'd been having that same dream every time she fell asleep, the vision going the same exact way every time. She couldn't be sure that that's exactly what happened to her parent that night last month, but she knew the basic facts were true. Her mom and dad had been driving into town from their house one night, but were killed by a drunk trucker on the way there. The trucker had died too...

Frankly, Paresu had no sympathy for him. He could rot in Hell for all she cared.

One cluster of clouds caught her attention. The arrangement created a form that looked familiar and somewhat appealing. It looked like a couple embracing. The woman hugged the man by the waist, resting her head on his shoulder. The man was a bit taller than his counterpart, one arm around her shoulder and the other resting on the arm of the woman that was resting against his stomach. The pair presented a picture that made Paresu feel warm inside, serene...

The peaceful picture shattered when she realized the cloud formation resembled her parents. 

The young woman twisted away from the window, her expression never changing as she kept her gaze on the back of the seat in front of her, trying to relax for the remainder of her flight. The plane was nearing its destination: Satan City, Japan. She was going there to stay with her uncle, Sasuki Hatori. Normally she would've stayed with her parents in their house in the country, but that was obviously no longer an option. Paresu couldn't even bear to stay alone in the farmhouse; there were too many happy memories associated with the rickety old house for her to bear to remember. She had stayed in a hotel when she went to her parents' funeral, having nowhere else to go. 

The only other living relative she had was her uncle, making she, him, and a few family friends the only ones at the ceremony, held a week after the accident. There had been a few words said by the priest and tears from the acquaintances at the funeral home, and then there was a short funeral procession that followed the hearse carrying Paresu's parents to the cemetery. There, the clergyman said a few more phrases and there was more lamentation from the family friends.

As the minister spoke his holy words, Paresu watched the others as they cried and she scoffed. They had no right to cry in her mind. Yes, they had been friends, but distant friends. Some lived far away, others lived close, but none of them came to visit her parents more than once a year. They were crying, yes, but they were only because they believed it was proper to do so. Crying didn't always call for grieving and grieving didn't always call for crying, and Paresu hated them all for crying without grief.

Paresu's eyes swept away from them and became locked in the saddened gaze of her Uncle Sasuki. She loved him for grieving without crying, like her.

Later, after the others had left to go on with their happy lives, she stood between the two polished ebony coffins that were waiting to be lowered into the grimy soil, her impassiveness finally betrayed by the single tear running down her cheek. She held two blood red roses, placing one on her father's coffin and the other on her mothers. She hung her head for a few moments in silent contemplation, and when she proudly brought her gaze back up, the offending tear had evaporated. The temporary mark it had left on her cheek was the only proof that it had existed. 

Then her uncle, who'd been standing off to the side, walked over to her, gathering her into his arms. Paresu hid her face in the soft, black leather of his trench coat, letting herself be held for a few moments. She pulled away and stood next to her uncle, both staring at the caskets as they were lowered into their plots.

"Paresu-chan," Sasuki said quietly, the first words he had spoken to her the whole awful day, "if you like you can come to stay with me in Satan City." He tore his eyes away from the coffins to look at his niece. "I have plenty of room in the house, and it's very lonely."

"Alright," Paresu replied, her voice almost above a whisper, and her eyes still secured one the graveyard workers as they shoveled dirt onto her parents' coffins. "I'll come in a few weeks. I have some modeling work to do in France first."

Sasuki raised one eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to be working now?"

Paresu only nodded, still watching as her parents' graves continued to be filled with dirt.

Paresu walked into the airport, and instantly felt extremely claustrophobic from the swarms of people rushing to their flights, looking for their luggage, or performing various other airport-related activities. It must've been the prime travel time for Japan.

_Maybe Godzilla has appeared..._ Paresu thought with a chuckle, watching all the travelers as they rushed around the terminal. _I better get going myself._

Cautiously clutching her purse, she made her way to the luggage carousel, moving into an empty spot by the conveyor belt. After a few moments she spotted her bags, three of them in all; two were regular suitcases, the other a duffel bag. She slung the duffel bag over her shoulder and picked up a suitcase with each hand. She grunted under their heavy weight, wishing she hadn't packed so much. Sighing, she set off for the cab stand.

Paresu looked up toward the ceiling at the directory signs, following the white arrows to the taxi pick-up area. She made several turns, pushing through crowds of people with her suitcases in each section she entered, and then she finally spotted a door leading outside, a sign above the automatic door saying, "Cab Stand."

"Hurry! Or we'll be late!" yelled a young man as he ran towards Paresu, looking back over his shoulder at a middle-aged couple. Before Paresu could move out of the way with her heavy luggage, the teenager collided with her. They both fell to the tile floor, her bags flying from her arms and landing around the fallen pair.

"Ack!" the boy said, extending his hand to help her up. "I'm sooooo sorry, Miss!" Once Paresu was on her feet he gathered her suitcases and bag, handing them to her. "Gotta go!" he yelled, running off, his parents close behind. "Sorry, again!"

Paresu grumbled to herself, hitching the duffel bag onto her shoulder and picking up her bags. Carrying this damn luggage was going to be even more difficult now that her body ached from the fall. She stalked through the automatic doors and outside into the cool fresh air onto the strip of concrete that was littered with people waiting for a ride. The sun was setting by now, tinting the clouds with oranges, yellows, and pinks, and since she couldn't lift her hand to read her watch, Paresu could only guess that it was about six o'clock. A cab came around the bend and pulled up to the curb before her.

The driver put the window down. "Ride, Miss?"

Paresu nodded, and the cabbie got out of the taxi to put her baggage into the trunk. When he closed the lid, he gave her a once over.

"Pardon me, Miss, but I notice that yellow dress doesn't have any pockets. You have money on you somewhere, don't you?"

"Of course!" Paresu said, confused. "It's right in my... my..." Paresu was dumbfounded when she reached for her purse and it wasn't there. 

"In your what?"

"Oh, no!" Paresu exclaimed. "That kid! He must've stolen-"

"Oi!" an unfamiliar, somewhat high-pitched voice called out. Paresu looked back towards the door and spotted a young man running towards her, waving a lemon-colored purse in the air. "Oi! Miss!" He reached her and held out the pocketbook. "This is yours, ne?"

"Oh, yes!" Paresu gleefully reached out and took her handbag. "Domo arigatou! How did you know it was mine?"

The man smiled. "Your picture was in your wallet."

Paresu didn't even think to check to make sure her money was there, for she was lost in his soft coal black eyes. The warmth in his gaze matched the warmth of his smile as he grinned at her, happy to have helped the young woman. Her gaze rose up to take a look at his hair. In the back of her mind Paresu commented that his hair was quite odd; it was very spiky, defying gravity, and it jutted outwards towards her, pointing a bit to the side. Then her stare wandered downwards, taking the rest of his appearance in. He wore a white long-sleeved shirt tucked into loose-fitting denim jeans, the cuffs of his pants hiding the tops of his tan hiking boots. To top it all off, the outfit hid what was an obviously muscular physique.

_Don't blush. Don't blush. DON'T BLUSH!_

The boy glanced at her curiously. "Miss, why is your face all red?"

_Damn it..._

"Uh... what do you mean?" Paresu blurted out, feeling stupid instantly.

"Miss, we have to get going," the taxi driver intruded.

"I guess I should go, then," the boy said to Paresu with a smile that made her weak in the knees.

"Wait!" she called after him as he turned away. "Do you need a ride or anything? I'd be happy to share a cab, and I'll pay for you." He turned back towards her. "It's the least I can do," she said more quietly.

He looked thoughtful for a few moments, then grinned once again. "Sure. How can I resist a ride with a pretty girl?"

_There's that blush again..._

Although Paresu was ecstatic to be in the same taxi with the most gorgeous guy she'd ever seen in her life, once they were on the road conversation had been nonexistent. Both just kept quickly glancing at each other, until they stared at each other at the same time, and then they would blush and turn back to their respective windows. After about fifteen minutes of this, Paresu wished that maybe the driver would say something that would spark up a dialogue, but this cab had a divider between the front and back seats, with only a little sliding window for the driver to speak through.

_Come on, Paresu!_ she coached herself. _Say something! Anything! Ask him about... about..._

The boy suddenly laughed. Paresu started and then stared at him as his chuckle ended, wondering what was so funny.

"Gomen," he said, "but I just realized I don't even know your name!"

"Oh!" Paresu said with a giggle. "My name is Paresu."

"I'm Goten," he responded with a smile.

"Well, Goten," Paresu replied, "what were you doing at the airport? Come back from somewhere exciting?"

"Nah, I don't travel much. My mom sent me there."

"For what?"

"She wanted me to get a job loading luggage or something like that."

"You get the job?"

"Um... no..." Goten put his hand behind his head and smiled, embarrassed.

"Why?" Paresu inquired.

"First of all," Goten began, counting off on his fingers, "I'm not dressed right. Second, I don't have much of a résumé. Third, I almost broke the guy's hand when I shook it. Fourth-"

"Okay!" Paresu interrupted. "Nevermind."

"What about you?" Goten asked.

"I came here from America to live with my uncle when I'm off work."

"What do you do?"

"I'm a model."

Goten just stared at her for a moment, then cocked his head to the side, studying. Paresu felt very self-conscious, running a hand through her chocolate hair and then resting it on her other arm, clutching her purse tightly with her other hand. 

"What??" she almost shrieked after a moment.

He gave her another wide grin. "You definitely look like a model."

Paresu ducked her head, trying to use her hair to hide her third blush. "Thanks."

"Say, do you-"

Goten was interrupted when the car came to a stop and the driver slid open the small glass window. 

"We're here, Miss," he informed Paresu.

"Already?" Paresu glanced out the window and saw her uncle's house for the first time. It was a large white house, framed by the midnight blue sky that twinkled with celestial diamonds. Glowing lights lit up the path that lead to the front door, and around the concrete trail was the neatly cut grass of the front lawn. Small gardens had been planted along the front of the homely building, various flowers blooming under the balcony windows of the first floor. 

It looked nothing like the farmhouse.

And she was glad of it.

Paresu got out of the car and waited by the trunk as the driver retrieved her bags for her. She was surprised when Goten exited the car too and walked around the front to approach her.

"Hey, Paresu, I was wondering..."

"Yes...?" Paresu said anxiously.

"Can I have your num-"

"Yes!" she blurted out before he even finished, immediately wishing she could crawl into a hole and die for looking so desperate.

But the handsome young man only laughed. "Okay, then!" he exclaimed. "Do you want my number too?"

"Sure," Paresu replied, plucking a small address book and pen out of her pocketbook. She tore out a page and inscribed her phone number, handing the paper to Goten. "And yours?"

"I'll write it," Goten offered, taking the small book from her. He opened it to the S section and wrote his name and cell phone number.

Paresu took it back and read the entry. "Ah, _Son_ Goten."

"And what's your full name?"

"Son Paresu," she said almost immediately, then blanched. "Um... I mean... Ugh..." She covered her eyes with her free hand.

"Your name is Son too?"

Paresu peeked back at him through an opening between her fingers, and knew that the oblivious look on his face meant that he was serious. _Not the brightest crayon in the box now are we? _She almost chuckled. _I guess we have something in common._

Paresu finally thought to answer his question. "Um... No... It's not."

"Oh."

"Yeah... So, I'll call you?" she decided to end this before she embarrassed herself further.

"Maybe I'll call you instead," he said back, winking.

She almost died at how cute he looked when he winked. "Yeah..." she sighed.

Goten got inside the car and Paresu handed some money to the driver.

"Minus how much it'll cost to take him home," the cabbie said, wide-eyed, "this tip is huge!"

"I'm in a great mood for once," she replied with a delighted grin.

The driver shrugged and tipped his cap. "Good evening, Miss." He slid into the driver's seat and looked back at Goten. "Where to, Sir?"

"Mount Piazou Yama 146, East District," Goten replied before turning back to Paresu, who had moved to lean down by the window. "Talk to you later, Paresu!"

The driver accelerated and the car sped away, and after a few moments she could no longer see the cab as it rounded the corner. She wasn't sure how long she stood there afterwards, her stare raising to the peaceful night sky, but for now she was content to just gaze at the stars. 

"Paresu-chan!" a voice called out to her, accompanied by footsteps slapping against the lit path. "How long have you been out here?" her uncle asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I dunno..." Paresu said wistfully.

"Huh?" Sasuki turned his niece around, only to see that she was off in her own little world. "What is your problem?"

"I met this great guy..." she breathed and looked back up at the sky, the reflection of the frosty stars in her eyes.

"Oi..." Sasuki picked up her bags. "You wanna go inside now?" He waited, but Paresu did not answer him. Sasuki shook his head. "Girls..." Then he turned on his heel and walked up the path and into the house.

Paresu remained standing at the front of the walk, stargazing as she dreamed of her newfound love.

__

The End

__________________________________________________________________________

You like? Well, Kim did. Anyways, I respect your opinion if you don't, and welcome any constructive criticism. ("You suck" or anything of the like is not constructive criticism, by the way.) This story will be erased in a couple of weeks, but will always be available on Kimmies' site. I just want to know what people think of it.

Well, I hope I opened your eyes to the not-so-wonderful world of Paresu. (If you like, you can visit Kimmies' Paresu site-the first Paresu site, mind you- at http://paresu.cjb.net) ^_^

Ja ne, minna-san


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